Desperate Planned Parenthood Uses Deceptive Practices

Desperate to find something wrong with how pro-life centers operate, Planned Parenthood's legal and vote-getting teams sent in undercover operatives to nitpick and find fault with the centers, even though the centers were operating within the law.

Their report, "The Deceptive Practices of Limited Service Pregnancy Centers," is the basis for legislation that would burden pro-life centers and set the stage for draining, vindictive lawsuits by Planned Parenthood or their supporters.  

This flimsy report is being used to deceive Legislators into supporting HB 1366 or SB 5274 (though perhaps others have been more influenced by Planned Parenthood's contributions to their campaigns).

The report says it's about exposing deception.  Yet it is based on a deceptive plan coordinated by Planned Parenthood's vote-getting arm (Planned Parenthood Votes! Washington) and its legal arm (Legal Voice).  The report is based on hearsay evidence gathered by 23 pro-abortion supporters over a two-year period, and breathlessly proclaims that laws need to be passed to protect women from pro-life pregnancy centers.

Sadly, for the people who paid a pretty penny to produce it, the report jabs wildly at information provided by pregnancy centers to their clients, but never really says how women are harmed significantly by hearing viewpoints that oppose their own, or having interactions while waiting for their pregnancy test results.

Protecting women, and their right to make their own choices, is one reason pro-life pregnancy centers exist.  In fact, some centers make sure women get time away from whoever brought them to the clinic. They want to make sure the woman (or girl, in some cases) is making an informed decision on her own, not because she's being pressured.

They want to make sure to prevent incidents like the ones reported in paragraphs 5, 6, and 7 of this column by Michelle Malkin.

It's ironic that Planned Parenthood's report specifically criticizes the Whatcom County Pregnancy Clinic (see page 6) for having a client go into a room alone, without her companion, to fill out a questionnaire.  

That's the kind of hard-hitting evidence Planned Parenthood has against pregnancy centers.  That's what they want to prevent, apparently.

The report's information has been packaged and fed to State Legislators, alarming some of them into supporting bills that amount to nothing but an attempt to silence a competitor.

Yet the report admits it is based on hearsay.  Interactions with pregnancy centers were not electronically recorded.  Volunteers filled out questionnaires after their encounters, relying on their memories and feelings about the incidents.  And just who were those volunteers?  Look at the "Acknowledgements" section of Planned Parenthood's report:

"Legal Voice and Planned Parenthood Votes! Washington thank the many generous volunteers who investigated, researched, and help write this report. Special thanks are owed to the Planned Parenthood VOX chapters at universities and colleges throughout Washington State; to our colleagues at NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and their many college student volunteers who assisted with the second phase of testing; and to the Law Students for Reproductive Justice chapters at Washington law schools who also assisted with the testing project. We also wish to thank the Cedar River Clinics and Aurora Medical Services.

"The investigation was carried out by the field organizers at Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, Mount Baker Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, and their invaluable volunteers."  (See page 12.)

Why don't you make sure that the Legislators you contact about these bills are making a fully informed choice?  That's what all this is about, after all.